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Duane Morris Picks Two Dozen From Wolf Block
New Jersey Law Journal
April 09, 2009
A 24-lawyer group from soon-to-dissolve Wolf Block, including the bulk of the Cherry Hill, N.J., office, joined Duane Morris Tuesday in a move led by two members of Wolf Block's executive committee, Hersh Kozlov and Alan Kessler.
John Soroko, chairman of 650-lawyer Duane Morris, announced the acquisition, saying, "when this unique opportunity materialized to add such a prominent group of lawyers from a venerable institution, we acted immediately."
A comparison of the lawyers listed in the announcement and Wolf Block's Web site suggested that 19 of the 22 lawyers in the firm's Cherry Hill office led by Kozlov and five from Philadelphia led by Kessler will make the move.
Eventually, Kozlov says, "there will be somewhere north of 25 lawyers in Cherry Hill, the entire office plus some additions from Philadelphia."
Wolf Block partners voted on March 23 to dissolve the 290-lawyer firm because of the effects of the recession on real estate and banking practices and because of anticipated defections by important partners. Cozen & O'Connor has brought in 30 Wolf Block partners from Philadelphia plus an unknown number from New York.
The move announced on Tuesday gives Duane Morris a Cherry Hill office in addition to branches in Princeton and Newark, but the total count of Duane Morris' presence in New Jersey was not immediately made known.
"We couldn't be happier with the people we have met and the reception we have received," Kozlov says. "We were attracted to the stability of the firm and after the experience at Wolf Block one of the things we looked at was stability of management, stability of finances and stability of culture."
He says there were no significant conflicts and that his gaming practice will be helped by Duane Morris having an office in Las Vegas. The energy practice will benefit from Duane Morris' Washington, D.C., office, he says.
Kozlov is on several boards of NASDAQ-listed companies, is a member of the Finance Committee of the Republican National Committee and served as a member of President George W. Bush's advisory committee for trade policy and negotiations.
He brought his previous firm, 12-lawyer Kozlov, Seaton, Romanini, Brooks & Greenberg, to Wolf Block in 2001.
Two years later, Wolf Block acquired Brach Eichler in Roseland, N.J. Partners in that 67-lawyer office are expected to announce their plans later this week.
